Passion Under Fire Team Rocket Revenge
by The Jolt Master
Summary: Cassidy is captured by the LAPD and interrogated by Officer Jenny for conspiring to kill Jessie and James. But what happened to Butch?
1. What Happened To Butch?

**Passion Under Fire - Team Rocket Revenge  
By The Jolt Master**

Foreward:

This fanfic is the third installment of the _Passion Under Fire_ series. I'll be up front with you, if you're used to Butch and Cassidy being how they are in the TV series, you're in for a major disappointment here. It's a fairly grisly tale and I've taken some creative liberties with this Rocket duo's personalities and their relationship. I've given them some depth and it's not very pretty. If you insist that Butch and Cassidy are supposed to be a certain way, then just close this story now. If you're intrigued, then read on. You need an open mind to read this story, so it can suck you in.

Now, if you're still reading, huzzah! I hope you'll enjoy this story. It's taken me a few years to write it (it's been a time management issue, since real life always comes first), but it's finally done. However, if you haven't read the first two _Passion Under Fire_ stories, I would encourage you to do so as it references them. It's not mandatory, of course, this story can stand on its own, but if you get confused by a couple references to past events, then I'm just going to say, 'I told you so.' .

Enjoy and thank you for your patience in waiting for this installment.

- Jolt

Chapter 1 - What Happened To Butch?

"Up yours, flatfoot!"

Her voice sounded flat in the ten by fifteen foot interrogation room. Reminiscent of a junior high school classroom, there were two beat up chairs and a graffiti etched wooden table where the two women were seated. Even the paint color on the walls was a throwback to those days of puberty. An old tape recorder clearly picked up the Team Rocket member's defiant statement. So did the ears of the police officer sitting opposite of her. A number of other detectives heard her through a speaker behind the large one way mirror that covered one of the ten foot walls.

Officer Nicole Jenny's green eyes narrowed at the young girl's insolence. Her cropped brown hair framed her fuming glare as she absently picked off a bit of lint from her Los Angeles Police uniform, which fit her slender figure very well. Yes, she was one of the pretty cops on the force. However, her tough-as-nails attitude kept most men away, but she had earned their respect as a good cop and she liked that just fine.

"Hmm...you're awfully sensitive about your partner, even though you say you don't give a damn that he's dead, Cassidy."

Cassidy's gaze was cold and defiant. She had her white elbow length gloved arms folded across the chest of her tight fitting black tube dress, which brazenly displayed a massive red "R" - the trademark insignia of Team Rocket. She dismissively tossed one of her two long blonde braids behind her as she crossed her legs, which were decked out in white vinyl thigh-high heeled boots. Her face softened to an arrogant look, which was marred by a swollen black eye. Some scratches and a bruise on her neck were also visible.

"James killed him," she replied nonchalantly.

"Right," the officer replied. "You keep saying that, but you're not very convincing. I'll give you some time to yourself to think about telling the truth."

Nicole pressed on the pause button the tape recorder, got up and left the interrogation room, muttering under her breath, "You little bitch."

Four months ago, the head of the Team Rocket criminal organization, known only as Giovanni, was arrested for two counts of attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. The "Trial of the New Millennium" had become a three ring media circus. There were calls every day for new information regarding Giovanni or busted Team Rocket members. When they found out about Cassidy, the feeding frenzy was sickening. It was bad enough with an audience of cops watching them from behind the large one-way mirror. However, it was the media that was heralding Cassidy as some sort of "jailhouse darling" - a sleek sexy young girl gone bad. Darling or not, Cassidy was going to the slammer and Nicole was determined to be the one to put her there.

As she sat at her desk, her train of thought was broken by the approach of John Harrison and his Arcanine partner, Striker. John was dressed in a modest gray suit, dark tie, and white shirt. He used to be a beat cop like her until he helped break up the the Dark Wolves drug and teen prostitution ring. Now he was a detective solving unusual cases. She wanted to go this route and she hoped interrogating Cassidy would help her down this career path.

John pushed some of his dark hair off his forehead and provided a nod to her as he stopped in front of her desk. His massive canine partner stopped also, then sat on his haunches. He was not the tallest man on the force, but Striker dwarfed him because his head almost reached the human's shoulder. She stood up and reached over to scratch Striker's head, to which, the big fire-breathing dog pokémon was more than happy to receive her affection.

"How's the interview going, Nicole?"

"Well John," she started with a big sigh, "can you tell me why I can't just shoot her?"

John smirked at this, his moustache curling with his lip. It made him look rather endearing to her and she briefly wondered why she had not asked him out yet. The answer came just as quickly. She was very dedicated to her job and thus, men were not required.

"Ah, well, there's that murder thing that gets in the way of it."

"Yes, murder...that's bad." The two chuckled over this, then she ranted about how for the past two hours, Cassidy had been deflecting her questions, lying to her and completely stonewalling her. She was getting frazzled and needed some way to break her. He listened intently, nodding every so often, then hit on an idea.

"Why not lie about the forensics? Say the gun powder residue doesn't match what was on James' hands, so there's no way he could've done it."

She arched her eyebrows at this. It was okay to lie about facts during an interrogation, so she had no problem with that. She just hoped Cassidy was not bright enough to see how flimsy that lie was. She doubted she would try it, but she smiled and nodded appreciatively.

"Thanks...that just might work," she replied. She paused a moment before asking her next question. "How are things with the Angel of Vengeance case?"

He immediately pursed his lips at this. It was the reaction she did not want, but expected it. The Angel of Vengeance case was a touchy subject. From what little she knew, it was a vigilante that seemed to be very strong, could sprout wings and fly, and stop bullets. The Angel would then beat the crap out of various street thugs around the city. It was rumored the Angel had committed over 800 acts of assault and battery, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage in the past four years. Both John and another detective, Jack Werden, had worked the case to catch him, but the details of the vigilante's death four months ago were now just rumors as the two cops had been under strict orders to never talk about it. The official stance of the LAPD was that the Angel was killed in a gun battle with the police. She was sure this was a bald faced lie and her curiosity was killing her.

"You know I can't talk about that," he replied somberly.

"I know, I know. I keep asking because it's driving me crazy," she paused a moment, her heart suddenly started thumping harder. "Okay, maybe not cop-to-cop...we could talk about it over dinner...maybe?"

He blinked, then became a bit flushed as he smiled. "Maybe."

She beamed at this, then suggested the Panda Inn in Pasadena. He agreed to it, then both of them chuckled because they were acting like a couple of shy teenagers. He gave a little wave, then walked towards Werden's office, since they were working a new case. Striker followed his human partner.

She watched him leave, then went back to thinking about Cassidy as she sat back down. Her ire returned as she pondered the yarn of crap she had told her. Most of it was likely true, except for James pulling the trigger. She definitely did not buy that and John's idea of lying about the forensics may work. She decided to make a phone call to someone who was there. With a password and a few keystrokes, she pulled up a name in the Witness Protection Database (WPDB) and entered an ex-Team Rocket member's name. Within seconds, a small picture of a young woman in her early 20's with massive red hair showed up with a screen full of information. She zeroed in on the phone number and current name, then dialed the number. A young woman's voice answered at the other end.

"Marcia Morgan?" asked Nicole.

"Yes?"

"It's Officer Jenny with the LAPD. How are you?

"Oh hi, Officer Jenny!" Marcia said happily. "I'm doing fine, thank you. It's great to hear your voice again. How are things with you? And you know can call me Jessie, right?"

"They've been better," the cop replied. "And yes, I know, but 'Marcia' keeps you safe in case someone is listening in on the call. Do you have a few minutes? I need to ask some questions of you."

"Of course! Anything for the woman who saved my life and James', er, Mark's, that is." Prior to going into Witness Protection, Nicole had convinced the ex-Rockets to go see Giovanni with recording devices on them, in order to get him to confess to trying to kill them. It succeeded, however, Jessie wound up getting shot in the chest and almost dying. So now, she and James were in hiding with the help of the police while Giovanni was on trial.

"Thanks, Marcia. As you probably know, we caught Cassidy and I've been questioning her about Butch's death. She keeps saying that James did it.

"But you know that's not true!" Jessie replied, sounding upset.

"Calm down, I know it's not true, but right now I'm not getting any straight answers from Cassidy. Any insight you can provide on this would really help."

There was an audible sigh from the other end of the phone. Nicole was beginning to loathe the sound of impatient young people.

"I'm sorry. It's still all a blur to me. All I remember was that I was talking to Cassidy about something, the fire alarm went off, James burst in, Butch and he fought, I was hit and knocked out cold. Then I woke up in our apartment some time later."

Nicole frowned at this. She was pretty sure that she was telling the truth. There was a lot of bad blood between Cassidy and Jessie, so it would seem unlikely that she would cover for her. She elected to switch topics.

"Okay, I'll figure out something else then. So, how's your pregnancy coming along?"

The giggle from the other end of the line brought a little smile to the cop's face. A brief thought crossed her mind about having a baby of her own, but she knew she was too dedicated to her job to consider it. Or was she? Could she leave it? Things changed...and there was that date with John Harrison...no, it would never happen. She valued her independence. True, she was alone, but she did not have to answer to anyone for anything. A baby would destroy all that and she definitely did not want that.

"Oh, it's just - unbelievable!" Marcia gushed. "I've got a little pot belly now! And it's growing! It's...it's really just _amazing._" There was a brief pause. "I just find it so hard to believe that after all this time and all the bad things I've done for Team Rocket, that I'm going to be a mother...and not only that, I have a man I truly love and who I know will be a great father to our child." There was another pause and Nicole heard a distinct sniffling on the other end.

"Are you okay, Marcia?"

"Yeah," Marcia said as she sniffed hard again. "It must be the hormones or I really believe that I don't deserve to be this lucky."

"Well, you two were lucky enough to escape Team Rocket, so now you both have a second chance to make things right with your lives. Not many people get second chances like that."

"Yeah...you're right," Marcia replied, laughing a little. "I hate to be rude, but the baby is pressing really hard on my bladder, so now I _really_ need to use the bathroom."

Nicole could not help but to laugh, so they said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. She thought long and hard about Jessie for a moment, then she pushed it aside. Her loneliness could wait. Her thoughts returned to Cassidy. She furrowed her brows hard as she stood up and returned to the interrogation room.


	2. Cassidy’s Story

**Passion Under Fire - Team Rocket Revenge**  
Chapter 2 - Cassidy's Story

"You know, I could sue you for keeping me here so long. I should call a lawyer."

"True, but you would have to be able to get to a phone first." Nicole fingered her nightstick to emphasize her point. Cassidy's face faltered for a moment, which brought a little smirk to Nicole's face. "Let's start from the top again."

"Fine," Cassidy groaned, "here's the story _again._" The officer unpaused the tape recorder.

"We were in Los Angeles, looking for wild pokémon and happened upon Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower, kissing on the hillside, near the Griffith Observatory. I shot them with the tranquilizer pistol I had, then we flew them in a helicopter to a secret Team Rocket base on an island. Butch and Ash got into a fight and Butch pushed Ash out of the helicopter, thereby killing the little twerp. Now, Ash had been deemed 'untouchable' by Giovanni, but that didn't bother Butch in the least. That's when I noticed something...something was different about Butch - something bad."

Cassidy paused, seeming to relive the moment. Nicole remembered that she had done that before. She made a mental note of it, then Cassidy continued her story.

"After we landed, Butch said something to Misty. She turned around and verbally accosted him. Nothing vulgar and she wasn't yelling either. But the line that caught my attention was when she said to Butch, 'Ash was more of a man than you could ever hope to be, no matter how long your miserable existence lasts.' Heh, boy, did _that_ piss him off. I had to hold him back from killing her too. He wasn't thrilled about that either. After we dropped her off at the jail, we went through another cave to report in...we never made it to the desk."

* * *

"How in bloody hell could you do that to me?!" Butch's rough voice, scarred from heavy chain smoking, echoed in the small empty rock chamber, which was off the main traffic path to the administrative desk. He deftly lit up a cigarette and took some heavy drags from it. His chiseled face was tense with anger. As he took another puff, she casually glanced over his lean physique. Despite how thin he looked, she knew he worked out a lot and was quite strong. Also, she had seen him without his shirt on numerous occasions and was delighted by the eye candy. His thin chest hair told of his natural hair color; it was dirty blond, unlike the dyed, dark aquamarine color on his head now.

"Do what, Butch?"

"Deny me the pleasure of killing that scrawny little bitch!"

"Butch, you're in enough trouble because you killed Ash Ketchum. You may remember that Giovanni had other plans - more important plans - for him."

"Aw, who gives a damn what Giovanni's plans are. Screw the old man! And screw you too! The next time I want to do something, I'm going to do it, whether you like it or not!" With that, Butch slapped her face hard.

The sting of the slap surprised Cassidy, but with lightning reflexes, she slapped him right back. This behavior was not unusual between them, but she sensed that something was different about this clash. Butch had killed someone. He was feeling very powerful right now and it scared her a bit. Butch saw that glint of fear in her eyes for the briefest of moments.

And that was all he needed.

He slapped her again, causing her to fall to the ground. Flicking away his cigarette, he pounced on her and struck her again. Clothes were ripped away from her as she lacked the strength to fight him off. She started to scream, only to be forcibly muffled by Butch's hand. He forced her legs open and there was a searing pain. She screamed again, but no one could hear her. The searing pain burned intensely as he continued thrusting maniacally. Moments later, the rape was complete. Butch laughed evilly, delighting in his triumph over Cassidy's dominance of him. For Cassidy, there were no tears. Only the cold set in.

* * *

"And that's when Butch raped you?"

"Yeah," Cassidy replied, her eyes blank, in a faraway stare. "A couple hours later, news of Giovanni's arrest came out over the public address system. We later received a coded message from him through his lawyer. We were to eliminate Jessie and James, by any means necessary." She stopped and looked at Nicole sullenly, then the familiar, arrogant smirk returned to her face. "Of course, you would never have been able to decode it. It would have involved an actual command of the English language, which you donut-gulping, coffee-swillers don't have."

"Perhaps," the cop muttered, then with blinding speed, her nightstick slammed onto the wooden table with a thunderous clap. Cassidy screamed loudly in surprise. Nicole gave her a smoldering glare as she reached over and pushed the pause button on the tape recorder. "But you are in the lions' den right now and my tolerance for your bullshit has worn very thin. So lay off the insults and finish your damn story or I'll start bashing fingers, which would make it impossible to dial a phone."

Looking a bit shaken, Cassidy managed to regain her composure and quickly nodded in agreement. Nicole pressed the pause button again and the tape resumed recording. Cassidy continued her story as the cop returned her baton back to its holster.

"Well, we set off to search for them, but could find nothing after about three months. The rapes continued, but it was mostly out of frustration of not finding them. He needed to take it out on something...or someone."

"Finally, we realized that they must have gotten some sort of amnesty because their testimony came up a lot during the Boss' trial; God bless the news media and their non-stop 'GiovanniWatch' for that. So we started with the LAPD and got an immediate jackpot."

Nicole blinked in surprise. Cassidy had not mentioned that the last two times she told her story.

"Who gave you the information?"

"Butch handled it," Cassidy replied. "I didn't care. But we had them and their deaths would be assured."


	3. What Went Down

**Passion Under Fire - Team Rocket Revenge**  
Chapter 3 - What Went Down

Nicole scrawled a quick note.

_WRDB compromised. Jessie and James Morgan - targets. Circa 30-45 days. Get Werden to help._

She deftly folded the note and wrote "John Harrison" on the front of it. She motioned to the one-way glass to have someone come in. A moment later, a young rookie walked in and she handed him the note.

"It's urgent. You need to find this detective and hand this to him personally. No exceptions. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

The door closed behind him and Nicole tried to calm her pounding heart. The LAPD may always protect their own, but she knew that some cops hated dirty cops as much as the crooks they busted, especially when innocent lives were at risk. Harrison and Werden were always about justice from Day One; Harrison for sure. They would find the bastard and turn him over to the Rat Squad, a.k.a. the Internal Affairs Bureau.

"Okay, so you found Jessie and James. What happened?"

"Well," Cassidy started, her tone filled with condescending amusement. "We scoped out ol' Jessie and James...oh, I mean, Mark and Marcia's Love Nest, located in the beautiful city of Arcadia, on California Street. Boy, what a _hovel_ they were living in. We watched them for a week to study their patterns. Neither of us could believe that James went back to school. Granted, it's Pasadena City College, so that doesn't count. Anyway, we got a copy of his class schedule, then followed him to work. And wow, he's a glamorous photographer - at Sears!" She cackled evilly at that and Nicole sat motionless, watching her. Cassidy continued, "Every time I think about that, I can't stop laughing. They were Team Rocket's best of the best. And now, they're reduced to being...ugh, common do-gooders."

"Yes, and the common do-gooders are in charge. The common do-gooders found and arrested you within two hours of finding Butch's body. Pretty uncommon, wouldn't you say?"

Cassidy scowled at Nicole's rebuke.

"Now that you had their patterns down, you obviously kidnapped Jessie...when?"

"When James went to work," Cassidy replied, now smiling. "Boy, the look on her face when she saw us. Butch moved on her pretty fast and she never got a scream out. She didn't put up much of a fight either. I didn't know why at first, but when Butch turned her around, I saw why. The Little Suzy Homemaker had been knocked up." She gave a sardonic laugh.

"And to think, I would never have believed that James was man enough to father a child."

"You'd be amazed at what changes can happen when you're betrayed by those you trusted and having to protect the one you love," said Nicole.

The sneering look on Cassidy's eyes faded and turned into a hardened, steely glare. Nicole continued.

"And just so we're clear about this; James, despite his past, has my complete respect and admiration _because_ he chose to do the right thing; _because_ he chose to take responsibility for getting Jessie pregnant; _because_ he chose to provide for his family by getting a job and going back to school. He's more of a man than any guy who would ever give you a second glance."

Cassidy paused a moment, then smirked at her. "And this after-school special was brought to you by the letter R."

"That includes your boyfriend, Butch," Nicole shot back. "Apparently, he only saw you as a piece of meat."

"What?!" Cassidy screamed, bolting up out of her chair and pointing an accusing finger at the cop. "I should kick your bony little ass for that! He raped me repeatedly!"

"I doubt you were protesting that hard after a while," Nicole replied coldly. "I bet you even wanted it."

"No!" Cassidy screamed.

"If not," Nicole yelled back, "then why did you stick around for so long? You must've liked it; maybe even craved it."

The incredulous look on Cassidy's face meant it was time to go the jugular. She lowered her voice to an almost conspiratorial tone.

"Maybe you felt you couldn't escape. That's why you killed Butch."

Cassidy almost answered, but somehow caught herself. It seemed instinctive as the surprised look on her face was still there. She eventually stammered out, "I didn't kill Butch. James did."

Nicole could almost hear the groans behind the one-way mirror. The group of male detectives, when the interrogation was over, commended her on her tactics of suggesting that Cassidy wanted the raping. They knew that only a woman could be heartless enough to pull that off.

However, even if the gambit had paid off, Nicole's gut was knotting itself fiercely. It went against the very fiber of how she treated rape victims. But somehow, it had become obvious that being sympathetic would not have worked. She wanted answers, so she pressed on.

"So why don't you tell me how James killed Butch."

Cassidy slowly sat back down. Her steely glare returned, but it was tainted now. Nicole had hit a nerve or Cassidy had made some sort of epiphany. Maybe it was both. The officer was wearing her down and the gold medal for interrogation would soon be hers to claim.

"There's not much to tell," Cassidy spoke more softly now. "We kidnapped Jessie, left a note where he could find her and at what time to show up."

"And that was..." Nicole said, flipping through her notes, "seven o'clock at night at the Embassy Suites on Huntington and Second. Room 428. Not too far from their apartment."

"Right," Cassidy said. "But James had come earlier than expected. I can't even believe his half-baked scheme to surprise us actually worked."

"The fire alarm?" Nicole asked.

"Yeah," the Rocket girl replied with some amusement. "He pulled the fire alarm and waited right outside the door. Butch opened it a crack and bam! The door was kicked in, Butch hit the floor, they scrambled for the gun Butch had, James got the gun and he shot my partner in the back."

"And why didn't he shoot you?"

"James was too freaked out," Cassidy replied. "The big wuss practically screamed like a little girl and ran. I'm surprised he remembered to take Jessie with him."

Nicole was scribbling a few notes, but as Cassidy finished her commentary about James, she wrote _bullshit_. Before Nicole could ask her next question, Cassidy interrupted her.

"I need to use the bathroom."

Nicole pursed her lips, then glanced at her watch. She had been grilling her for almost three hours. If she said no, Cassidy might lawyer up, then it would be over. No gold medals for anyone.

"Alright," she said, waving at the one-way mirror. "You get five minutes." A male officer came in and handcuffed the Rocket girl and escorted her out to the ladies room. Once there, Cassidy held up her cuffed hands, but the officer shook his head. He pushed open the door and unceremoniously shoved her inside. Despite her tall thick heels, Cassidy managed to not fall onto the grimy and sticky tiled floor. She would have loved to go back and kick the cop senseless, but she only had five minutes.

More than enough time.

She darted into an empty stall and got to work. She reached up and pulled a titanium bobby pin out of her blonde, braided hair. Scanning the handcuffs, she found the serial number, which her training at Team Rocket Headquarters told her how to pick the lock.

Thirty seconds down, the cuffs were on the floor and the bobby pin was back in her hair. Now for the costume change.

She removed her white elbow length gloves, pulling them so they turned inside out; thus turning them from white to black. She quickly tore at the wrist seams, letting the hands fall to the floor. She then pulled off her thigh-high platform boots and slipped on the sleeves over her legs. The Lycra material stretched to accommodate her shapely, toned thighs. She pulled them up high enough to make it look like she could be wearing a pair of black cycling shorts underneath her black tube dress.

Two minutes down. Three minutes to go.

She ripped the big red 'R' from her chest and dropped it on the cuffs and gloves. In one smooth motion, she pulled her outfit up and over her head, effectively turning it inside out and from black to white. Standing only in her new "leggings" and white thong panties, she was about to put her dress back on, but she paused to look down at her stomach. A cold sweat flashed through her body.

_What the hell am I going to do?_

Her brain immediately shouted an answer.

_Put your damn dress on and get the hell out! Move it, Rocket Girl!!_

Cassidy snapped out of her fear and deftly put her now white outfit on, covering her bare breasts and panties again. She stepped out of the stall, right when the cop knocked on the outside door.

"Let's hurry it up in there."

"Almost done," she called back, picking up her boots. The thigh-high part of the boots tore away easily, leaving only the heeled shoe. She twisted the heels off and placed them in the sink, so as to minimize any noise. She then folded one shoe where it normally bends for the foot, then unfolded it. An audible snap sounded off and she now had a flat shoe. After doing the same to the other one, she slipped them on and became four inches shorter. She pulled off her hair ties at the ends of her braids and quickly unwound them. With years of practice, she swiftly pulled her long, voluminous blonde hair into a single, massive ponytail.

Four minutes and fifteen seconds had passed when she flushed the toilet. It was five minutes flat when the cop came into the ladies room and found she had slipped through the small window.


	4. What Really Went Down

**Passion Under Fire - Team Rocket Revenge**  
Chapter 4 - What Really Went Down

Cassidy found great amusement in watching cops run by and not recognize her. And why would they? They were looking for a young blonde woman with braids wearing a black tube dress, instead of a shorter, pony tailed girl in white with black leggings. Inversion was a great disguise.

Now she had to find a place to stay and come up with a new plan of action. In the city of Los Angeles alone, there were at least three dozen Team Rocket contact points where a Rocket could go when she got in trouble or needed to hide. Four of them she had traveled to had been abandoned which made her quite nervous and jittery. The fifth one was the charm, but was troubled to see that it was run by a skeleton crew.

The young Rocket grunt led her to his office, which used to be an abandoned apartment. A makeshift doorway had been made to connect with the flat next door.

"You see," he explained, "with Giovanni's assets frozen, we've become nothing more than a volunteer group to help wayward Rockets. Without money, a lot of them just deserted and tried to make a criminal life of their own. Some went back home." The grunt paused briefly to add contempt to his next statement. "Others went into law enforcement."

Cassidy narrowed her eyes scornfully, while the grunt simply shook his head in dismay and typed out a few things on his laptop. Before she could say anything, the grunt spoke up.

"But you, Cassidy, are an inspiration! Now, we get to do what we're supposed to be doing. Rocket Relocation!" The grunt tapped a couple more keys, then announced, "Okay, I've hacked into the Westin Bonaventure's computer system and got a room for you. It's only for a couple nights, but I'll bet it's more than enough for you."

The grunt then pulled a card out and slid it through a card reader. The machine gave a beep and he handed her the card.

"You're in room 1469. Just take the yellow elevator to get there. We have some spare clothes in the back, so I'll have Ted take you there. I'm not sure there's a uniform in your size, but there's plenty of street clothes, which I'd advise you go with until you're ready to work."

"Excellent," said Cassidy, taking the card and patting him on the shoulder. "Your loyalty will not go unrecognized. And not just you, everyone here. Once Giovanni wins his trial, we will regroup and be more powerful than ever."

"Thank you," he replied, his chest swelling with pride. "We appreciate that." Cassidy turned to follow Ted, but the grunt stopped her. "One last thing, Cassidy. I noticed the cuts and bruises on your face. Every Team Rocket medical facility has been either shut down or abandoned. Whatever links we had to any civilian medical buildings have been broken. Put simply, if you get injured, you're on your own."

Cassidy's eyes widened at this. This was really bad news, but she quickly recovered. She nodded, then struck her fist to her chest.

"Go Team Rocket!"

"Go Team Rocket!" he replied, striking his own chest in return.

* * *

Cassidy entered the hotel room an hour ago without arousing any suspicions. There was no reason she would have either, dressed in a simple denim mini-skirt, tight white t-shirt and black flats. She was just another anonymous face in a city of millions.

She cracked open her seventh mini-bottle of whiskey taken from the mini-bar and took another long swig, nearly emptying it as her head swirled with questions. _How could things have gotten so out of control? How could I have let things get so bad?_ She finished off the bottle, then blindly tossed it wherever. Her mind drifted back to the first rape, where she had desperately fought with Butch and lost. She remembered how she was going to seek her revenge on him. The plot that had made her smile the most was where she would get him really drunk to the point of passing out, use a very sharp knife to cut off his manhood, then put the tip into his mouth. After he bled for a bit, she would slap him awake so she could watch him scream and die in an unmanly way.

She smiled now as she opened and drank mini-bottle number eight. Her mind drifted again, back to the day they kidnapped Jessie. They had an hour to wait before James was supposed to arrive. Butch was already anxious.

* * *

"I hate waiting," he said, his gravelly voice edgy, like a drug addict in need of a fix.

"You already know he doesn't get back from work until six," Cassidy replied with little enthusiasm. "Remember, this was your plan."

"Shut up, bitch!" Butch yelled. It was obvious he was ready to go postal, but after darting his eyes at Jessie, then back to Cassidy, he brought himself under control. He stated his words slowly, but tensely. "I'm...I'm going to get a soda." With that, he left the hotel room, slamming the door behind him.

Jessie, now with blonde hair as part of her Witness Protection disguise, had been sitting submissively in her chair, her gaze locked to a single point on the carpeted floor. Her pregnancy was hard to hide. She even had that glow pregnant women get; simply radiant and beautiful. God, how she wanted to slash her face.

Cassidy looked down at her, just as Jessie looked up at her. She was ready for any sort of psychological warfare Jessie might try on her. She could not wait to hear her voice speak up with that lame bravado she always carried with her. Her icy stare was met with the softest gaze she had ever seen.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

She blinked at Jessie. She was not ready for that one, but she quickly bounced back.

"There's nothing wrong, dear girl," she replied smugly. "We're simply completing our mission to eliminate both you and your lover. We couldn't be more delighted."

"He broke you, didn't he?" Jessie's voice was still soft - almost _concerned._

"We're still a team," Cassidy replied defiantly. "We're the best of Team Rocket!"

"But there is no Team Rocket," Jessie said calmly. "And I seem to recall that for every mixed team, the girl was the dominant member - always. 'The Rocket Girl takes charge and inspires the Rocket Boy to be the best Rocket.' Remember that? Remember all the self defense classes you and I took together? To keep the boys in control? You and I were the top of our class. Remember how we would send each other the infirmary every other week with broken ribs, nasty kidney punches, sprained fingers, even a broken leg?"

Cassidy's icy glare melted a bit and some joy returned as she remembered being in the leg cast for six weeks. The week after the cast came off, she returned the favor back to Jessie by breaking her arm in three places.

"So what happened, Cassidy?"

Cassidy paused for a moment, looking away, as a flash of fear swept through her, cautioning her about telling the truth. Since Jessie was going to die, the truth would never leave this room. She spoke almost as quietly as Jessie had.

"He raped me. He's been raping me for the past few months. Hell, he would have done it just now before he left, but I think he doesn't want any witnesses."

Jessie's jaw became agape as Cassidy confessed to her. During her Team Rocket days, she had only heard of two rapes that had happened. Both of the boys were dealt with so harshly, you never even breathed their names. This was worse now because Cassidy had no one to turn to - not Team Rocket or even the police. Jessie's eyes widened at another realization. It would only be a matter of time before Butch killed Cassidy.

"Oh my God," Jessie whispered.

"Yeah," Cassidy said, looking down again at her hostage with a somber gaze. "And just so you know, your little plan to turn me didn't work. I'm still going to kill you."

Jessie blinked a couple times, then stood up slowly. Normally, Cassidy would have taken a defensive stance, but it was obvious that Jessie was not going to fight because she was pregnant. The two stood face-to-face. There was a tear streaming down Jessie's cheek.

"The moment you said you had been raped," Jessie started, "my plan went out the window. We may loathe and despise each other, but we were always Rocket Girls - and more basic than that, we are women and we are human beings. Butch violated a trust and violated you in the worst way possible." The tears were really flowing now. Jessie seemed almost hysterical.

"And by staying with him, you're practically giving consent that it's okay to continue to demean you; to dehumanize you. Leave here with me. Let's get away from him before he kills you! You know that's what it's going to lead to, right? You see that? We need to leave!"

Jessie was now breathless and busily wiping the tears from her eyes. Cassidy simply looked at her and slowly clapped her hands. She spoke dryly.

"Wonderful speech, dear girl. Truly an Oscar winning performance."

Jessie stopped, taken aback by her comment, then anger flashed in her eyes. For all the years the two Rockets had sparred in their self defense classes, Cassidy had never been able to match Jessie's speed. The resounding smack of Jessie's slap showed that tonight was no exception as the solid smack echoed briefly in the small hotel room and surprised Cassidy.

"What's wrong with you?!" Jessie yelled, sounding like her old self. Cassidy's face stung, but only caused her to start laughing.

"Is that all you've got? You hit like a girl!"

"At least James treats me like one. I can't say the same for you. To Butch, you're now just a piece of meat."

That statement incensed Cassidy, which sped up her reflexes to slap Jessie back. However, the Queen of Speed kept her title by blocking the slap. Cassidy's look of anger was met with Jessie's impassive stare; like a master to a pupil. Jessie spoke softly.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

Before Cassidy could respond, the door started to open. Butch had returned with his soda. Panicked, Cassidy quickly forced Jessie to sit back down before the door had opened all the way. From Butch's standpoint, everything was just as he had left them...almost. Jessie's eyes were red from crying and he pounced on that.

"Aw," he teased, his gravely voice made his taunts take on a creepy tone, "is little Jessie scared? Are you crying because you know you're gonna die?" His evil cackles sent chills down Jessie's spine. Butch stepped forward and cupped Jessie's chin. She gasped and trembled as Butch spoke in a low growl, all teasing aside.

"And I'm going to enjoy humiliating your boyfriend in front of you. I have waited _so_ long to show him what it's like to be a real man. To take charge. To be in control. I'm gonna destroy the whiny little bastard!"

"Destroying one person isn't enough?" Jessie blurted out. Butch blinked a couple times, then the light went on.

"Ah," Butch started as he slowly stepped over to Cassidy. "Naughty naughty girl, Cassidy. That was supposed to be our little secret." Cassidy shook visibly as Butch stood before her. With blinding speed, Butch's fist struck her face with incredible force. Her left eye saw a blinding white light as she staggered back and crashed into the wall behind her. Jessie gasped loudly and stood to help Cassidy, but before Butch could stop her, a loud wailing echoed through the door from the hallway.

It was the fire alarm.

Butch lifted the front of his black Team Rocket sweater and pulled out a 9mm pistol and immediately pointed it at Jessie. She froze on the spot, eyes wide with fear.

"You even _think_ about yelling for help, I'll blow your brains out."

Jessie nodded quickly in fright as Butch went to the door. He looked through the peephole and saw a few people walking in the hallway, responding to the fire alarm. Butch opened the door and peeked through the crack. Not seeing anything odd, he opened it a little wider. That was when a boot kicked the door hard, slamming it into Butch's face on it's way open. A dark haired assailant rushed in and immediately grabbed Butch's hand that held the gun and twisted it hard. Butch yelled as the gun popped out of his grip and landed between Cassidy and Jessie. Butch struck the man and forced him away. Jessie could not be happier, even though Cassidy had gotten to the gun first.

"James!"

And so it was. Instead of the usual blue or his natural dirty blond hair, he had straight shoulder length, dyed black hair. This was part of his cover in the LAPD's Witness Protection program as Mark Morgan. He assumed a standard fighting stance and looked over to Jessie, his expression went from focused to worried.

"Are you okay, Jessie?"

"Oh, she's fine," Butch replied disdainfully. "We've been having a real party without you. I've been showing her a _really_ good time." He chuckled maliciously as James narrowed his eyes in rage.

"I am going to kick your ass, Butch."

"Oh, I doubt that," mocked Butch. "I seem to recall you were the weakest in our self defense class. The certificate of completion was _honorary._"

James remained stoic, but Butch was right. He was often used as his punching bag in class. A pang of humiliation swept through him.

"You may find that I'm full of surprises," bluffed James.

"Heh, I doubt that too." With this, Butch took an attack stance and launched a fast kick. James was barely able to sidestep it, but was not fast enough to evade the double-punch that followed the kick. James took the two to his face and stepped back to avoid him. The wave of dizziness passed quickly and he took his stance again. Butch laughed spitefully.

"Well, well, I am surprised, James. You're not bleeding like you usually do." His eyes darkened. "I'll fix that."

Fear motivated James to move faster and was able to block some punches and another kick. But Butch found a hole in James' defense and exploited it mercilessly. Soon, James' face was swollen and his nose bled profusely. Jessie could not stand to watch her lover get beaten any more. She screamed for Butch to stop and squarely kidney punched him. He yelled in pain. He spun around with lightning speed and struck Jessie across the face. Jessie cried out, but it was short as she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Jessie!!"

James watched her fall from Butch's forceful strike. James' breathing quickened as his face went from pale to flush as he started to grit his teeth. The evil Rocket only laughed.

"Say good night, wussy boy."

Butch threw his hardest punch, confident that nothing would match its speed or power, as it raced to James' face. He imagined the gory damage his fist would do to the dark-haired pretty boy and grinned through his clenched teeth.

His fist never reached its destination.

Butch blinked in complete shock at what James had done. He had reached across his chest and caught Butch's fist by the wrist. Even more amazing, he had stopped the fist dead in its tracks with an iron grip. James turned his gaze to Butch, their eyes locked, and he provided him with a defiant smirk.

"Surprise."

With a hard clockwise twist, James forcefully turned Butch's arm backwards, which painfully brought Butch to his knees. James' own knee connected with Butch's face several times. Butch fell over sideways, away from his opponent, covering his face with his free arm. Fierce kicks to Butch's spine followed, all the while, James never let go of his enemy's wrist.

Butch yelled out with each kick, but after a couple, he finally had enough. He planted his left foot to help anchor his impending attack. With a move that a contortionist would be proud of, he swung his leg back hard enough to sweep James off his feet.

James saw this coming when Butch anchored his foot. Just as James reached the apex of his airtime from the sweep, he spun his body hard, still holding the wrist, which turned Butch's shoulder almost 360 degrees. As James painfully face-planted onto the carpeted floor, he could not help but smile.

The loud pop of Butch's shoulder joint was muffled by the sickening crunching and snapping of his upper arm.

James could almost visualize the splintered bone tearing through the muscle and skin as he beamed with pride. Butch screamed in excruciating pain and agony. He kicked hard to get away from James. James could only laugh as he leisurely released his opponent's wrist and stood up. Butch tried to scramble to his feet, but the excruciating pain made him very lightheaded.

James darted over to where his lover laid unconscious. She was breathing evenly and Butch's strike to her face was beginning to swell. He would cry later on for this marring of her beauty, but he now was focused on leaving.

"Where do you think you're going?" snarled Butch.

James did not bother to reply as he lifted Jessie, then gingerly put her over his shoulder. With the fire alarm still blaring, it would not look out of place when he walked through the lobby to leave the hotel.

"You can't escape me, little man."

James carefully moved past Butch, who was still struggling to stand up. His mouth, however, was not struggling at all. His voice becoming progressively louder and more aggressive as Cassidy idly held the pistol, a blank look on her face.

"I will find you. I will hunt you down."

_Yes, he will,_ she thought, her mind started racing and her heart rate accelerated. Butch now stood up unsteadily.

"Over and over again. NO ONE can save you from me!"

_Dear God, no._

"Not the police. Not the FBI. Not even your mom!"

_I have to get away._

"I will not stop! I will not rest!"

_Leave me alone!_

"I will find you and destroy you! I will always be there, no matter where you go!"

_Stop it! Stay away!!_

James closed the door behind him, not heeding Butch in the least.

"I will kill you!!"

_**NO!**_

Butch barely heard the gunshot over the fire alarm, but felt the bullet plunge into his back. He turned around wearing an expression only the shock of betrayal could create. Reaching out to Cassidy, he took a single step forward, then fell to the floor and died unceremoniously.

Cassidy's gun was still smoking and pointed where Butch had been standing. A glazed look covered her face as the screams in her skull rose to an unbearable din. She was sure her head would explode as she shut her eyes tightly, cringing in pain. She had crossed a major line and a deep, indelible etch was being made into her soul to mark this moment forever. The screeching reached its climax as the darkness seemed to envelop her.

Suddenly, the screams died out.

Despite the wailing fire alarm, only a deafening silence echoed inside her head. Her body felt hollow and black. She began to breathe again, but could not fill her lungs with enough air. Looking down, she gazed upon her dead partner, her dead friend, her dead tormentor and felt nothing. He was gone. She was now safe. She was free of him forever.

Suddenly, there was a strong twinge in her belly.

She immediately dropped the gun and put her hands there to determine what the source was. A flash of fear swept through her body with an awful realization. The rapes had been unprotected. She was over a week late with her monthly cycle. She felt another twinge. _No...dear God, no!_

She was not free of Butch.

* * *

She sat against the wall in her dimmed hotel room. Her denim mini-skirt and panties were missing now, so her bare skin meshed with the soft plush carpeting. The alcohol had done its job. Her body was numb and heavy. She took a deep breath and grabbed an old wire hanger she had found hanging in the closet.

She started to bend the hanger into a crude implement for her surgery. It was not going well as she mumbled numerous swear words under her breath. In her inebriated hindsight, she vaguely realized that she should have done this before she started drinking.

Finally, she finished bending the hanger to her drunken satisfaction. The hanger had its base pulled away from the hook into a very elongated diamond; going from about eight inches tall to nearly two feet long. _Should be long enough to get it out of me,_ she thought as she looked at the hook. The hook had been the hardest part to shape. Instead of its semi-circular shape, so it could hang clothes, it was shaped more like a sharp dentist pick that was used to scrape out plaque in between the teeth, but was still slightly curved at the tip.

_I'm going to put that where?_ she would have said if she were remotely sober. But her glazed eyes focused as best they could on the task at hand. She took a deep breath and opened her legs. Holding the hanger by the now slightly curved tip, she pushed it into her intimate opening. She pushed more of the wiry steel into herself and could feel it scraping against her inner walls. Cassidy sucked in her breath strongly through her gritted teeth as she pushed in more of the wire diamond. The hanger gently forced her opening wider. She cringed and could not help but wonder why she had not gone to a hospital for this. Her fuzzy brain reminded her that she had no money or insurance and cops hung out at hospitals. Someone would have spotted her. So, she painfully pressed on.

More importantly, she wanted Butch _out_. Out of her body. Out of her life. Out of her mind.

She felt a pointed poke in her upper abdomen. The alcohol took the edge off, but she realized the hanger was inserted far as it would go. She exhaled slowly as she turned and pulled on the hanger. Now she went on her seek and destroy mission. She moved it to the side and pushed down. Nothing. She repeated the process a few times. Some pokes stung more than others, but her heavy drinking helped the pain move along.

She pushed down again and suddenly, a very sharp pulse raced through her body. She broke out in a light sweat as her uterus throbbed. She released strained breaths as she repeated her previous action. The pain ripped through her like someone had shoved a metal stake into her stomach.

_That has to be it,_ she thought wildy. _That has to be Butch._

She pushed down hard on the hanger and the pain magnified a hundredfold. She could almost see stars, but miraculously, she did not scream. She pulled on the hanger hard, thinking she had speared the embryo, and she did scream this time. Breathing hard, she geared herself up to pull out the hanger; to finally remove Butch once and for all. With another yank, the hanger was out. The intense pain throbbed fiercely. In the dim light, she could see little globs of tissue on the carpet. A wave of relief washed over her, renewing a flash of sweat all over her body. She felt a wet, warm sensation between her legs, but did not care. So what if she pissed herself? Butch was out. Butch was gone. Forever. She celebrated by opening another mini-bottle of something and draining it all. She breathed easily, despite the pain, but could feel the lightheaded buzz of the alcohol.

The wetness had quickly reached her knees and seemed to be spreading faster. She blinked a couple times, then looked down. She puzzled over why there was so much urine. Had she drank that much? Something clicked in her head and she reached down and touched the warm liquid pouring out of her opening. Looking at her stained fingers, she noticed an absence of any stench associated with urine. Another, much stronger, wave of dizziness hit her and her discovery struck her like a bolt of lightning.

She was bleeding to death.

The alcohol was still heavy in her system, but her panicked eyes were wide open. She looked around and spotted the phone. It sat quietly in the dimness about twenty feet away. Her heart raced as she tried to move her legs, which felt like lead weights. She became faint and collapsed in her pool of blood. Her white shirt and bare abdomen were painted red and glossy as she shakily pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Blood flowed without hindrance from her sex as she crawled forward. Two steps later, she collapsed again. She was having a hard time seeing. She could not stay focused. Her panicked heart, while trying to keep her alive, was unwittingly killing her. She tried again. Blackness. Collapse. Shallow breathing. Her survival instinct left her. Her last whisper was of Butch.

"You bastard."

* * *

Epilogue:

Officer Jenny stood inside the hotel room, watching the medical examiner instruct the paramedics to put the body bag on the ambulance's gurney and drive it to the morgue. As they left, she stared hard at the blood drenched carpet. It was still moist despite death occurring two days ago, by the medical examiner's guess. She could see bits and pieces of flesh that were missed by the crime scene investigators. Jack walked up slowly as she tried to figure out what they were.

"It looks like a botched abortion," he said. "She bled to death from a tear in her uterus. That's what they think it was, anyways. An autopsy will confirm it."

Nicole nodded, then suddenly made the connection on what the bits of fleshy tissue were. She immediately became queasy and turned around, covering her mouth. Jack moved quickly to catch her and guided her to a chair like a pro, having done so for many other victims and their families.

"God, Jack...I thought she was smarter than that."

"She was probably desperate. It's been my experience that when you're doing your own medical procedures, you're more alone then you ever have been in your life. You feel like no one cares about you. No one is there to sympathize with your pain or your plight."

"And there wasn't for her," she started. "She escaped from us, likely killed Butch - her only friend turned rapist, and with Team Rocket destroyed, she had nowhere to go...she was completely alone."

Nicole considered this for a long moment. She thought about her job, her life and where it was going. No parents. No kids. No friends. Would _she_ be missed? The whole situation of her lonely life hit her like a freight train. She blinked from her epiphany and simply said, "I don't want to be alone...anymore."

Jack perked up his eyebrows at her. She looked at him and flushed a bit.

"Not with you. Nothing personal."

"Fine," he replied, smirking, "Toy with my feelings. See if I care."

Nicole stood up and good-naturedly patted Jack's shoulder as she passed by him to leave the room. Once out in a quieter part of the hallway, she pulled out her cell phone and punched a few numbers.

"John Harrison? Hi! It's Nicole Jenny...Yeah, hey, I don't think I thanked you properly for dinner the other night at the Panda Inn. Soooo, I was thinking I could cook you dinner at my place. Say around seven..."

THE END


End file.
